Svengali

Apparently this was a made for TV movie, anyway, the reason to watch this film is not the riveting storyline or spectacular visuals.

What is good about this movie is seeing O'Toole work his magic. He can take a rather silly re-working of the Pgymalian storyline and almost make it seem like art. He really is a wonder to behold.

Foster is not the actress yet she will become in Accused & Silence of the Lambs but you can certainly see the control starting to take shape. Foster shines when she's standing up to O'Toole's dogmatic ways but she falters in romantic moments with O'Toole, you just don't believe that she has romantic feelings for O'Toole.

Elizabeth Ashley is a bit of a disappointment. I was expecting to see some fire from her but I just kept getting the feeling that she was just so much in awe of working with O'Toole that she came off flat. It's a shame cuz it would have been fun to see Ashley & O'Toole spark...ah well.

Sure, the move is a bit melodramatic at times...OK..but if you're an O'Toole fan, you really should check this out. I don't know if he was nominated for an Emmy for this but he should have been.

Oh and there's a great cameo by Holly Hunter in an early performance before her breakout role in Raising Arizona.

Again, this is not the worst movie you'll ever see. It's just a dated early 80s movie that just happens to have a great part for O'Toole which he makes the most of and it's fun to see Jodi Foster as well in a part that we haven't seen her in over and over again..and don't forget, it's always fun to see an actor using their own voice to sing in a movie!

Two of the greatest - playing together. They are doing it so good, that I can remember THEM; not especially the plot in the movie; but Toole and Forster WAUW! Their emotions became so real!

Made for TV, the 1983 version of "Svengali" tells the tale of Zoe Alexander (Jodie Foster) being discovered singing at a night club in New York City. The talent scout invests in her by giving her free singing lessons with Anton Bosnyak, a top-of-the-line singing coach (Peter O'Toole). He's difficult and demanding, but he's the best at what he does and Zoe eventually experiences success, but she also falls for her singing coach, even though he's 28 years older than her! The ages of the characters pretty much match the ages of the actors, since Jodie (Zoe) was 20 and O'Toole (Anton) was 50 at the time of filming.

Some people criticize this film as unintentionally funny because Jodie does her own singing and it doesn't really change that much over the course of the film (in fact, she sounds best at the beginning with the bar band) and also because of O'Toole's over-the-top performance. It didn't strike me as funny, however, because it's all about the characters, the story and the acting, not how good Jodie sings or how eccentric Anton is. Besides, it's a made-for-TV movie for crying out loud.

I'm not a big fan of either Foster or O'Toole -- I can take 'em or leave 'em -- but who can deny their acting skills? These are acting giants and here they pull off two very tough roles. With difficult parts like these everything has to be right; if the written dialogue is bad the actors won't be able to make their characters believable, but I found both Zoe and Anton believable. In fact, Anton's a great offbeat character. What's more, I enjoyed Anton & Zoe's relationship arc and I didn't think what ultimately happens was going to happen. So the film's not predictable, which is always good.

On the downside, Zoe's hit and the style of music her band plays are too bland to be believable. So what else is new? (In other words, if the songs/music were really that awesome they wouldn't be using them for a TV movie; they'd be real-life hits).

BOTTOM LINE: This 1983 version of "Svengali" is a solid drama and better than similarly-themed theatrical releases like "The Rose." Foster and O'Toole pull off two tough roles and make their characters come alive. O'Toole in particular is outstanding. Plus, the topic of falling for a too-young woman or too-old man is always a fascinating subject.

The film was shot in New York City and runs 100 minutes.

GRADE: B

George L. Du Maurier's novel "Trilby", first filmed as "Svengali" in 1931 with John Barrymore and Marian Marsh, gets an embarrassing '80s make-over here, with New York bar-band singer Jodie Foster discovered and sent to vocal tutor extraordinaire Peter O'Toole for refinement. They share a begrudging relationship at first, accented by ego-mad Svengali O'Toole's stormy temperament, until Foster's Zoe eventually lands a record deal--putting into question her need to rely on this man who has come to be her mentor and love-interest. Well-produced for television, the movie gets off to a good start but eventually flags, with Foster unconvincing as a vocalist and O'Toole looking ragged and disinterested. There's a funny bit performance by a young Holly Hunter (whose screws are so loose, she clashes with the relatively somber tone of this piece), and Elizabeth Ashley has some fine moments near the beginning before she is unceremoniously lost in the shuffle.

Peter O'Toole has played Henry Higgins in TV's version of Pygmalion (My fair lady). Svengali is almost exactly the same story, except that instead of teaching "Eliza" how to speak, he teaches "Zoe" how to sing. O'Toole displays a lot of the brilliance he has as an actor but the performance is no way close to the one in Lawrence of Arabia -- but then again, there was David Lean directing LOA. O'Toole is an excellent character Actor. The music in the film too is quite good, except that Jodie Foster's song that brings her fame in the movie is too overplayed. In the beginning it's a nice tune and her voice is even dare I say pretty good! Worth seeing once at least.